


Different days

by TheMidnightMoonChild



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Game: Resident Evil 2, Post-Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:55:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23542708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMidnightMoonChild/pseuds/TheMidnightMoonChild
Summary: Alternative ending to resident evil two, and what happened after they left Racoon city.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Claire Redfield
Comments: 10
Kudos: 70





	1. Prologue

Nothing moved as he jogged between the tall buildings and empty houses. The trick was to run and never slow down. Leon learned that lesson the hard way, he had seen first hand what happens to the people who slowed down.

The streets are empty apart from the dirty, silver car in the middle of the road. It was typically broken, must have been crashed into by another car, but as with most places they had ended up in, that was normal. The rest of the street had been ripped apart, leaving nothing left apart from a few empty shops, and rotting bodies.

They had escaped from Raccoon city three weeks earlier, but all that running had taken its toll. They needed money, clean water, and food. After finding an abandoned farm house on the edge of a small town they decided to stay there until they came up with a plan. Leon left that afternoon to do a grocery run with the small amount of money they had left, neither of them wanted to use a debit or credit card just yet. When he had returned Claire and Sherry were both gone.

Now in front of him was a dark lane, seemingly safe. There was another car, a black one, that was smashed into a house. The windows are dark, crushed and stained with a dark red liquid. The glass is still intact at the odd bit, and the darkness beyond is terrifying, all eerie and hungry. He prayed he would find Claire hiding in it.

Moving forward he didn't care, or wonder, what is in the deep shadows hiding before him. Worst case scenario, what used to be a beautiful suburb might now just be housed by equally aggressive humans...or zombies. He can't stop now though, he needed to find them. Deep down he feared the worse, but he didn’t find any signs of a struggle to suggest someone had attacked them, so he hoped they had run and hide instead.

He kept running, since one can’t hide in plain sight. For now, it’s the only thing he can do. Hurrying across dead lawns, dark streets, abandoned cars, any dark corner he could find. Nothing moved as he ran over the remains of scattered humans, Leon tried not to look too closely.

After a while he slowed down, not quite breathless but wary. There’s a broken fence six meters away danger ahead. Leon licked his dry lips, trying to plan his next move. He decided to back around, they couldn’t have gotten far on foot in a short period of time. He would find them, he needed to find them.

# ______

“They're over here” A hushed whisper blew through the air as men in gas masks trotted silently through a dark alley in the night. The gleaming moon glistened against their eyes as they crouched across the clearing where two girls attempting to hide outside behind some burned down car, sitting in the cold damp gravel. They were covered in dirt and dust, obviously used to a more outdoor lifestyle.

The first girl looked older, late teens if they had to guess, she was wearing just a gray t-shirt and black jeans, and what looked like a thin material men’s jacket to cover her pale skin from the cold, while her knotted auburn locks cascading down her shoulders. Her blue eyes held only the emotion of fear and anger. The younger girl who was hiding behind her, only looked to be twelve, she looked in better shape. She had thicker clothes than the older girl, and they looked slightly cleaner. Her eyes were closed, she was shaking her head with fear.

Staring at the poor kids it almost made them forget their job and to hand them over. Almost.

The man in charge signaled, and the group surrounded them. Guns pointed up, as if they would try to run in the first place. The girls knew they were surrounded now. A dip in the formation let a tall man with slicked-back hair enter up to the pair. He crouched down next to them, inspecting their faces. The younger one looked frightened, which didn’t surprise him... but the older girl, she wore a stone-cold glare across her face. She intrigued him.

“No need to be afraid”, He said softly, but in the odd type of softness that sent shivers down Claire’s spine.

“I’m going to take you somewhere.warm with food, and you'll even get some new clothes, courtesy of me”

“We aren’t interested”, Claire insisted, she done her best to try to keep any emotion out of her voice. She didn’t know what they wanted, but she knew not to trust them. All she wanted to do was scream for Leon, but what good would that do? All she would be doing was getting him caught, plus she had no idea where he was, and he probably wouldn’t hear her anyway.

They stared for a moment, their gaze shifting from fear to confusion as two sets of blue eyes stared into brown. They only sat for a minute, though, as Sherry was scooped up by some soldier looking man, carrying her firefighter style. Another one turned for Claire, he ignored her kicking and screaming to let go.

Sherry and Claire both got shoved roughly into the back of a van, they could do nothing now except wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to post the next chapter, I’m a frontline worker in a hospital and I’ve had hardly any spare time in the last six weeks. Hospitals might not be overrun with zombies, but it is overrun with people drinking bleach (please don’t do that). Hope everyone stays smart and safe, and I will try and uploaded more chapters this week. ✌️

It was eerily quiet.

Almost too quiet.

Both of them knew better than to try to talk about an exit strategy. Claire squeezed Sherry’s hand and gave her a kind smile. Truthfully the redhead was scared, but she needed to stay strong for Sherry, and Leon, wherever he was. She just prayed he was safe.

What feels like an eternity of sitting in silence the van came to a sudden stop. Sherry would have fell over if it wasn’t for Claire holding onto her. The door swung open as the men from before grabbed them roughly, pulling them out the van before heading towards a police station.

Sherry stayed silent as Claire began to scream frantically. “No! No! Fuck you assholes! Are all police bastards?! Let us go! We haven’t done anything wrong!”

The man from before with his hair slicked-back stepping in front of Claire, squeezing her cheeks together, so she couldn’t scream anymore.

“Nobody is in trouble, Miss Redfield, we just need you to answer a few questions for us.” He said in a patronizing tone, as if she was a silly child.

“How do you know my name?” Claire demanded, as she pulled her face back from his grasp.

The man just let out a dark laugh. “Oh miss Redfield you are determined to do this the hard way” he licked his lips, before turning to face his men. “It’s getting late. Put them both in the cage, I’ll be back in the morning to question them”.

An hour later Claire was left pondering the decisions she had made in the last twenty-four hours, and how things might have turned out differently. She wished more than anything that it was herself that went to the grocery store, and Leon. Lest that way Sherry would have been safer, he wouldn’t have let her be taken. Or if they had just hidden in the house rather than run, all three of them would be together instead of this.

The cell was small and in some kind of basement. The white paint was almost chipped off, and it had a wooden ‘bench’ that the young girl was currently sleeping on.

“What kind of pisshead police are running this show” Claire mumbled to herself as she tried to reposition her numb ass against the concrete ground.

They needed to escape, but how? She had nothing to defend herself with, and she couldn’t see any sort of key to open the cell with. All she could do was wait till tomorrow.

# ______

Panting Leon was leaning against a wall in a dark alley. Not his smartest move, but he needed to catch his breath. Yet again he found himself running away from an infected pack of dogs.

His head was spinning, running around a city he didn’t know all night had taken it out of him. He needed food, water, and sleep. But that wasn’t what he wanted. He slowly turned his back against the wall and slid down to the ground. Closing his eyes, he could taste the rain water on his lips.

_Get it together Kennedy._ He had to stop feeling sorry for himself ‘get up and keep going’ was what his father always told him. Leon slowly made his way to the other side of the alley, being careful not to draw attention to himself. He paused, something caught his attention.

Music.

The bar is full of life as Leon walks in stunned. Each chair and table is occupied with bodies, dozens of men and women cluttered into the open room. None of them were infected. The counter, however, sits empty except for a man wiping the top with a rag. He shifts the weight of his backpack to one shoulder, then pushes his way through the crowd until he is at the bar.

Leon cleared his throat twice, but each time the man refused to acknowledge him. His gaze didn’t break from that rag that passes leisurely swipes across the laminate. Between the chipped surface and the peeling of the edges, the countertop shines.

“Hey, I’m looking for a couple of girls, I was wondering if you would be able to help?” Leon asks finally.

The barman barely lifts his face to throw her a glance, then shrugs. “Depends on what you’re looking for. We have blondes, brunettes, redheads...”

Leon stared at the man in disgust, the city's being overrun with the undead and this man was whoring out girls. He made a mental note to come back and deal with this situation once he had found Claire and Sherry.

He turned his back and wondered through the haze of cigarette smoke, dodging animated hand gestures deep in conversation and swinging elbows, for what felt like hours before finding someone who seemed somewhat sober.

A woman in her late forties was standing next to the fire door, shaking her head in disapproval as she watched an extremely drunk man fall off his bar stool.

“Anything I can do for you handsome?” She asked without turning her head to look at him. Her accent was southern, mixed with a heavy smoker's cough.

“Uh, Yeah. I’ve lost two of my friends and was hoping they might have been in here.” Ok, that was a lie. He knew Claire would have taken one look at this place and turned around. “ What is this place?”

“This son is salvation. One of the few places that didn’t fall apart during the riot.”

“The riot?” He asked.

The woman was coughing heavily between lighting her next cigarette, and talking. “The police made an announcement saying dangerous rioters had come to town and everyone was to stay inside. You should relax and have a drink”.

“I see.” He guessed that was the locals' way of getting thought this, believing anything. “Have you seen a redhead with a child pass through?”

The woman shook her head. “No, but follow me. My name is Susan, and the man you spoke to at the bar is Tom.”

Leon shrugged, and followed. It seemed the better option to go back outside blindly. He followed the women to a back room that was full of TV’s, most of them working.

“Last Thursday I got Tom to install CCTV all around the town. Just in case then people came back. I hope you are able to find what you are looking for on it, also that box in the corner is lost and found. Feel free to rummage for dry clothing” she said point at the trail of water he was dragging with him.

Leon nodded, “Thank you.” And just like that the women disappeared back into the main bar.

After rummaging through the box, Leon managed to find questionable dry clothing that he changed into. He wondered if Claire was still wearing his jacket. Shaking his head he turned back to the TV’s and rewound them for the past twelve hours.

“No fucking way”

After a few hours of fast forwarding footage, and falling asleep in between he finally found what he was looking for. Sort of. He froze on the spot as he watched Claire and Sherry being shoved into the back of a police van. Great, all he had to do was find them. Without getting caught, bitten, or shot again. Easy. He just needed a plan.

Leon spun on his heels and headed for the door, he knew what he had to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to have a couple of days going back through all my previous chapters to correct spelling, and grammar mistakes best I can before uploading any more chapters. Thanks for all the kind comments, and likes.


	3. Chapter 3

Claire’s eyes flickered open, her body was sore and cold. Stiff from leaning against the bar cells all night. He back creaked as she stood up, and stretched. But why was she freezing?

The door to the room was still shut, and there weren’t any windows. The air was coming in from somewhere, Claire paused in her step to look around the room. That was when she noticed it, the small vent under the ‘bed’ Sherry was sleeping on. Kneeling on the ground, Claire was able to get a better look at it. The nails weren’t nailed in properly. Bingo.

“Sherry”, she said softly, shaking her shoulder, “You need to wake up.”

Groaning the young blonde, sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. “Claire? What is it?” She asked in an alarmingly loud voice. Almost as if she had forgotten where she was.

“Shh” Claire said pointing towards her ear, the redhead was very aware someone could be waiting on the other side of the door, or reappear at any time. “You need to listen to me okay?”

Sherry nodded her head understanding.

“I want you to go through the vent. Try to find the way out, wait until the coast is clear and run. Leon will hopefully be looking for us, and he won’t be far. I need you to stay safe, okay?” Claire smiled weakly, she was worried but knew she was a strong kid.

Suddenly hearing footsteps walking towards them, Claire practically ripped off the vent and shoved Sherry in it. The footsteps stopped and could be heard going the other way. Claire whined as she ripped her nail off trying to screw the nails back on.

Sighing Claire lay on the bed Sherry did not so long ago, all the redhead could do now was wait.

# ______

Sherry was running so fast her small feet began to throb. The vent had taken her to a changing room, after everyone had left she hopped down, and climbed out the window leading into an alley. She assumed it was early morning, as the sun was beginning to rise.

Beginning to panic Sherry looked around, she needed somewhere to hide. _’You can hide in the long grass by lying low.’_ Sherry remembered Leon telling them this, he actually came up with a plan in case they ever got separated. Unfortunately for her, he mostly shared this plan with Claire.

Sherry hid sitting among high bushes, and long grass. She had a perfect view, to her left Sherry faced a main road, and to her right was the entrance to the police station. She watched as cars passed her, along with a few people walking. They were talking and laughing, they looked normal. Well, at least human.

After what felt like hours, a black car stood out to her, it had driven past the police station at least three times before it disappeared. Sherry looked around to see where it went, but she had no idea where it went, confused she sat back down.

The car reappeared and stopped slowly in front of her, the back door swung open. Nervous, Sherry leaned lower into the grass, hoping whoever it was couldn’t see her.

“Get in.” A male voice said in almost a whisper.

“Leon?” Sherry saw his head poking out, he was waving her over. Just like Claire had said, he was looking for them.

# ______

Leon sighed leaning his head back on the couch, it had only turned half past eight in the morning. He had spent all night and morning looking for the police station, after noticing the van from the video he pulled over. Leon was trying to figure out a way to get inside when he noticed movement in some bushes, at first he thought it was a stray dog, but driving up closer he noticed it was Sherry.

Leon had found a bed and breakfast, he was currently renting a room out. The women at reception hardly even glanced at him, just asked for cash and flung the keys to a room at him. This town didn’t seem to have anyone infected so far, but he didn’t trust it would stay that way long. Only the next town over had been infected, although most people still alive didn’t seem to know it. Soon as they had Claire back they would need to leave as soon as possible.

He had Sherry back, least that was something. She had told him how some men had taken them back, how Claire helped her escape, and how the redhead was still inside the station. He needed to get her out, but first he needed the young girl to rest, he would most likely need Sherry to help him in his rescue mission.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This next part will be split into two chapters: the first being Leon and Sherry’s version of events, and the second being Claire’s. Hope you enjoy.

_“Fuck” Leon cussed pissed._

_He had somehow managed to break into the police station to rescue Claire without being caught, and she was gone._

_“Where’s Claire?” The young girl asked, confused._

_“She’s not here Sherry, fuck!” He yelled frustratedly. They needed to get out of town pronto, but he wasn’t leaving without Claire._

_The young girl was upset. She had grown really fond of Claire, and was disappointed she wasn’t there. Looking at the vent she had escaped through the day before she squinted her eyes. Something was different._

_“Leon what’s that?” She pointed at bits of wall plaster laying on the ground._

_Signing Leon leaned down and shined his torch on it. He was surprised to see something carved into the all above the vent, Claire had left them a one worded clue._

_“What does it say?” Sherry asked crouching down next to him._

_“Irons, it’s says Irons” he gulped down._

“Just put your thumb here and push down,” Leon said unsure.

He was trying to teach Sherry how to use a lighter, which seemed like a good idea when he suggested it. But now watching the young girl holding the lighter, he wasn’t entirely confident she wouldn’t burn her fingers.

He had come up with a plan, a very basic plan that could easily blow up in his face but it was all he had.

“Are you sure about this Sherry? If you don’t want to or change your mind it’s fine, we will find another way” he said sincerely. The last thing he wanted to do was put a child at risk for no reason, but the young girl was hell-bent on helping him find their red-headed friend.

“Claire would do the same for us” she said smiling weakly. Sherry was scared, but trying her best not to show it.

“Okay then, we should try and get some rest before nightfall” he said before putting the small orange lighter on the table.

# _______

“Let me know once you’re ready” Leon said, while Sherry checked she had everything she needed.

The young girl took a deep breath, before nodding “ready”.

Leon hoisted her up to the vent that she escaped from previously. He had scouted the area out to make sure nobody else was about, and waiting till it was nightfall helped him. He was surprised the police station didn’t have many security cameras on the outside of it, lucky for them.

“Okay, I’m going forward” the young girl called back to him.

Sherry had crawled to the changing room, once realizing it was empty she came back to let Leon know.

There would be some cops in the building on the night shift, but hopefully a lot less since the rookie set the abandoned car he had ‘borrowed’ on fire a few blocks away, and called the station from a pay phone to report a robbery happening on the other side of town. They waited until they saw a lot of officers leaving before sneaking down towards the back alley.

In the changing room, Sherry pushed one of the small panels of the wall and waited for a moment to see if anybody would come. When nobody appeared Sherry fumbled for the lighter, she was nervous. She was scared of dropping it, or burning herself. Regardless of her fears, she took another deep breath and stuck her arm out. Her thumb lit up a small flame, as she held the lighter underneath the fire alarm.

Once the water began to pour from the sprinklers, she quickly made her way to the front reception and would remain in the vent until she got the signal to get down.

Hearing the firing alarm go off, Leon went in through the front door. The good thing about a police station in a ghost town was it was hardly occupied. Not seeing anyone in the reception area he told Sherry it was clear.

After safely helping Sherry down from the vent, the young girl led him in the direction that Claire should be the best she could. In the ‘cell’ they could hear a lot including constant footsteps, Claire quickly realized it was underneath the main building.

After finding a locked door to a stairwell, Leon kicked the door in. He hoped nobody was nearby to hear all the noise he had just made. Only having a gun which he was reluctant to use against the living, a pocket knife, and only a few flash grenades left Leon was reluctant to use any of them.

“Claire, can you hear us?” Leon said loudly.

They walked into darkness, all the lights in the room had been turned off. Leon turned on his torch and scanned the room for the familiar face he was looking for, it was pointless. She wasn’t there.

“Fuck” Leon cussed pissed.

He had somehow managed to break into the police station to rescue Claire without being caught, and she was gone.

“Where’s Claire?” The young girl asked, confused.

“She’s not here Sherry, fuck!” He yelled frustratedly. They needed to get out of town pronto, but he wasn’t leaving without Claire.

The young girl was upset. She had grown really fond of Claire, and was disappointed she wasn’t there. Looking at the vent she had escaped through the day before she squinted her eyes. Something was different.

“Leon what’s that?” She pointed at bits of wall plaster laying on the ground.

Signing Leon leaned down and shined his torch on it. He was surprised to see something carved into the all above the vent, Claire had left them a one worded clue.

“What does it say?” Sherry asked crouching down next to him.

“Irons, it’s says Irons” he gulped down.

Chief Irons was the bastard who burst Claire’s lip, sent her on a wild goose chase, and took Sherry. But he was dead, wasn’t he?

Leon purses his lips together, this wasn’t part of the plan.


	5. Chapter 5

Claire couldn’t remember the last time she slept, not knowing Sherry had got out safe was killing her. She missed her, and she missed Leon.

Her head was pounding, the lack of sleep and stress was getting to her.

The redhead suddenly noticed that the footsteps she had heard pacing back and forth before had suddenly stopped, followed by a loud bang. Someone had just been shot.

Soon after the gunshot went off, the creepy man with slicked back hair stood in front of her sighing. “Where is the girl?” He asked obviously concerned.

“What girl?” Claire casually shrugging off his question.

“The girl where the hell is she?!” He yelled at her.

She scoffed unfazed. Claire had met men like him before, he wanted to scare and intimidate her. But it wouldn’t work. He could arrest her, kill her, or keep her. Whatever he did, Claire wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how scared she was on the inside.

“For a pretty thing, you sure are dumb. You don’t have anyone here to protect you sweetheart” he slurred.

Claire flipped him off in response.

“I will find her eventually.” He said sternly, before pausing. The man looked like he was thinking. “You don’t know what game you have been caught up in, you stupid little girl”.

Claire just continued to stare at her sore finger, the nail had completely fallen off now. She really wanted to know who the man was or why he wanted them.

“I need her,” he continued. “That little brat was the last person to see my father.” He hissed before punching the wall.

_His father?_

The redhead studied him, he did seem slightly familiar somehow. He reminded her of the spoiled teens who grew up down the street from her as a child. They wore fancy clothes and had zero class.

“My father is chief of police, and you will be in so much trouble if you don’t help me. I have CCTV footage of him walking into the orphanage with Sherry before the cameras failed” he explained.

Chief Irons was his father? That son of a bitch? Claire immediately felt even more uncomfortable, she was worried he was just as crazy.

# _____

When John Iron gave up trying to scare Claire for information on the young girl he stormed back upstairs, just like the brat she knew he was.

Scrambling for anything she could find, the redhead managed to find another nail that had fallen out of the vent. Frantically she carved ‘Irons’ onto the wall. At least it would give Leon a clue when he arrived, which she suspected him too. Except Claire wouldn’t be there.

The redhead had overheard him saying how ’they’ had to leave soon. She assumed he’d take her with him.

As on quo, Claire heard footsteps coming down the stairs fast. The door swung open a moment earlier, and then John opened the cell. 

“Move!” he snapped.

Rolling her eyes Claire reluctantly got up and walked towards him.

She squirmed in pain when he cuffed her. “I’m not taking any chances with you. Now walk” he barked.

Claire walked in front of him. She could have put up a fight, but it might have been him who shot someone...or something before. She didn’t want to risk him shooting at her.

The street was eerily quiet, nobody else seemed to be about. Not even other cops. It wasn’t until the redhead reached the police van, she noticed someone lurking outside the police station. It was Leon.

What was he doing? Claire had to think fast, she needed to get his attention without alerting anyone to his presence.

Before she could even come up with a plan in her head, an alarm started ringing from the station.

“Shit” the voice behind her grumbled.

Claire saw Leon run into the building, she needed to get to him. This must have been part of whatever plan he had come up with. She smiled slightly at the thought, he would have been one hell of a cop.

“Get in the van.” John ordered in a dark voice.

She turned to face him, and in one swift move she headbutted him. Then kicked him in the shin, before kneeing him in the stomach. Even with her hands cuffed she knew how to defend herself.

Claire quickly turned and ran from the empty street back into the fire station to look for Leon, and hopefully Sherry as well.

John watched, almost impressed. The redhead wasn’t as helpless as she had led on. He thought she was just another defenseless girl, but she was so much more.


	6. Chapter 6

“Leon, why were you apologizing to Claire?” Sherry asked staring at him wide-eyed from the bed.

Sherry was sleeping on the bed while Leon took the couch. The first hotel room they stayed in had a leak, so they got moved to a different smaller room.

“What?” He asked rubbing his eyes, he was half asleep and wasn’t fully aware of what the young girl was asking.

“I heard you apologizing to Claire the other night, why? What did you do?” Sherry asked clarifying her question.

Leon started at her, for a young girl she wasn’t dumb, and apparently didn’t miss anything. He didn’t know what to say. What could he say? I was apologizing for being a jackass in Raccoon City? I naively listened to a woman I meet and acted as her sidekick instead of helping you and Claire escape?

“I found a note Claire left me, but I didn’t actually read it until after we escaped Raccoon” he said, his answered seemed to please Sherry as she quickly went back to sleep.

_‘Leon,_  
I have to take a little detour to help this girl I found. If I don't save her, I hate to think what might happen.  
You go on ahead. You're almost out of the city now. Don't worry about me: I'll make it out. Promise.’ 

Leon rolled onto his side and tried to shake the fact he just lied to Sherry from his mind. He said sorry to his redheaded friend because he had seen her note, and didn’t try and find her right away. After they both talked about their own experience, they discovered they had missed each other by minutes on several occasions. He could have kicked himself, if he had just chosen logic over emotion he would have found them sooner.

# ______

“Leon!” Claire yelled soon as she entered the police station. “Leon! Sherry!” She looked frantically for them.

“Claire?” A voice from behind her said.

The young girls voice instantly brought her some comfort, without even thinking the redhead bent down and hugged her. “Where’s Leon? We need to go now!” Claire explained looking around for him.

“He was right behind me.” Sherry said pointing towards the room she had just come from.

“Stay behind me.” Claire said in a low voice, the last thing they needed was to lose another person.

Sherry had come from the office behind the reception, they reached the room a bright flash of light temporarily blinded them. Claire felt someone grab her hand and drag her. She was about to put up a fight when she recognized the male voice talking to her, it was Leon. When she opened her eyes Claire could see she was in some kind of back room.

“There're lickers out there.” Leon said panting, “I didn’t mean to scare you” he said mortified and when he saw her face. He had made Sherry leave the room before the creature could get her. He was pleasantry surprised to see Claire stranding with the young girl.

“We need to go now.” Claire said in a low voice, “he will be behind us and now we have those freaks crawling about again.”

“We need to run. I’ll check it’s clear then we go for the back door.” Leon said slowly opening the door.

Claire took Sherry’s hand, she couldn’t risk the young girl falling behind or getting lost, after Leon waves to her it was clear they ran. They could hear footsteps close behind, but they stopped once the screeching noise caught up with them, then all they heard was screams. The lickers had killed whoever was after them.

After escaping through the backdoor Leon quickly smashed a window to what he assumed was an abandoned car, as Sherry and Claire climbed into back seats he managed to start the car. He drove far away as he could without stopping, until he had to pee.

“Leon what are you doing?” Claire asked frantically.

“Nature calls” he shrugged, “nobody is behind us.” Leon reassured her.

# ______

“I don’t think anyone even noticed me.” Claire said quietly as she put the paper bags down on the counter.

Another hour on the road and Leon decided he had to pull over, it was too dangerous to travel during the day. Plus they would need to eat, shower, and try to sleep somewhere. When they arrived at another run down motel nobody appeared to be working when Leon looked around, not finding any staff he just took a set of keys from the reception. If anyone asked he was making up a lie and explaining his way out of it later.

Claire had walked to the small supermarket across the road and _‘bought’_ a few supplies, including clean clothes. She didn’t want to say in front of Sherry that the supermarket was deserted as well.

“What’s this?” Leon asked, confused.

“Hair dye, Irons junior will no doubt have put my description out. I need to change it, even if it just temporarily.” Claire sighed.

“Oh”, Leon was studying the razor and scissors he had just pulled out of the bag. He wanted to ask Claire if she was okay, and find everything that had happened, but he didn’t think it was appropriate. Sherry was within earshot, and he had noticed how quite Claire had been. He didn’t want to push the subject.

“Do I need to change my hair color?” Sherry asked looking between them.

“I got you a wig instead.” Claire smiled at her.

“Do I?” Leon asked reading the instructions. “I don’t think I’d suit dark hair,” he pouted slightly.

“It’s up to you” Claire shrugged. Truthfully, she wasn’t looking forward to cutting and dying her hair herself.

“I think you should just cut mine instead,” Leon shrugged. “What?” He didn’t like the mischievous grin Claire was now giving him, she was going to enjoy it far too much.

“After you Officer Kennedy.” Claire teased pointing towards the bathroom.

Leon sighed as he stood up, he felt like a dead man walking, his hair was his thing. He could have done it himself, but seeing the smile that had appeared on the redhead's face he was glad he asked her to do it. They deserved a moment of laughter, god knows they wouldn’t have many.


	7. Chapter 7

It was a little past two in the morning when Leon woke, it took him a moment to fully wake up. He struggled to adjust his tired eyes to the darkness of the room.

He sat up and cracked his back stretching, he had opted to take the couch while Sherry and Claire took the two single beds. Leon did get some argument from the redhead, although he eventually won the argument of who slept on the most uncomfortable place.

Quickly he whizzed his head around the room he could only see one person sleeping on the beds that were behind him. He quickly tiptoed to the bathroom, being careful not to wake Sherry he knocked on the bathroom door. He was surprised to not get an answer.

“Dammit” he mumbled under his breath.

Leon’s heart began rattling in his chest, he had no idea where Claire was. He stood panicked for a moment until he saw the curtains at the balcony moving slightly. He grabbed his handgun that was sitting on the small table next to the couch he was sleeping on. Sweat had started to form underneath his arms and back, it just seemed like they were living in a never ending nightmare.

Slowly but surly he made his way to the balcony, he pulled the curtain back carefully not to alert anyone to his presence. A soft sigh of relief left his lips, it was only Claire.

“Hey” said quietly, when Claire turned round to face him he was surprised to see she had been crying. It was still dark outside, but the moonlight and reflection off some streetlights revealed her red and puffy eyes.

“Sorry...did I wake you?” She asked slightly embarrassed.

Leon shook his head and sat down next to her. He could feel the cool air against his now bare skin, he smiled at the memory of having his hair cut. It was the first time he had heard Claire and Sherry both laugh loudly, his slightly dramatic facial expressions seemed to amuse them both.

If hadn’t of seen Claire dye and cut her own hair he would have assumed it was a different person sitting on the small balcony. She had cut her long red locks and put temporary dark brown hair dye on, even though she looked like a completely different person Leon thought she suited it just as much.

“Are you okay?” He asked in a whisper, “That guy...did they do anything to you in the prison?” Leon held his breath after he asked, he was afraid of the answer.

Claire shook her head, and let out a deep sigh. “They didn’t do anything I couldn’t handle, I just can’t stop thinking about Chris. If I just knew he was okay I’d maybe be able to relax a little.”

Leon didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t do anything to help her. He couldn’t say he knew everything was going to be alright, because he didn’t. Nobody did. Not knowing else to do, Leon slung his arm around Claire’s shoulder as she leaned her head on his chest. They stayed like that for a long time.

Claire was half asleep with her eyes still nipping from crying, and the bright daylight now didn’t help. She squinted up at Leon who had fallen asleep, the redhead smiled. She had never seen Leon look so peaceful.

Quietly she stood up and stretched her arms out, and leaned against the balcony railings. The sun was warm against her skin, as the slight breeze felt nice against the now bare nape of her neck.

Everything almost looked normal, apart from the lack of people in the street it seemed like a regular day. Except from one thing, Claire leaned forward to get a better look. It looked as if a man was walking up the street, but something wasn’t right. The man was walking funny and...oh shit.

“Leon” she said quietly, shaking his shoulder.

He groaned opening his eyes to see a worried looking Claire. 

“What’s going on?” He asked quietly.

“There’s a zombie.” She said pointing towards the street.

Leon quickly sprung to his feet, and stood beside Claire as they watched the zombie walk up the street. Neither of them reached for their guns, it somehow seemed pointless. It was nowhere near them and the sound of a gunshot would attract more attention to them.

“What do we do now?” Claire asked, sighing.

Leon thought for a moment before answering, “we keep moving.”


End file.
